


he's opened my eyes; how can i shut them again?

by zombeesknees



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 12:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17100878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombeesknees/pseuds/zombeesknees





	he's opened my eyes; how can i shut them again?

He remembers their first flight — the way she clung to him. The moment in the dragons’ nest was terrifying, yes, but _Astrid_ was pressed against him, fingers tight around his upper arms, and hadn’t he dreamt about being this close to her for months? 

So strange to think he’d been trying to get her attention all those weeks by _killing_ a dragon, when training one worked like a charm. Turned out being true to himself got him more than just a scaly friend for life.

But today she was acting odd. He’d catch her eye across the training pavilion, where she and Snotlout were running a handful of kids through the basics of the care and keeping of Nadders, and she’d smile and give him _that_ look. But when he tried to grab her arm as they were leaving she just punched his shoulder and slipped away with a laugh. 

So he’d shrugged, because she was a girl who frequently defied explanation, and went off to the workshop to start on more safety harnesses—he’d recently come up with an idea for turning sailcloth into bags that an unseated rider could use to drift safely down to the ground with, and was working on putting together a knapsack to hold the contraption. About an hour later he looked up in between stitches, tongue stuck at the corner of his mouth, to find her leaning against the windowsill, staring at him with her chin in one hand. 

“Ye-es?” he asked, head still swimming with diagrams.

“Just like watching you work,” she said lightly.

“And why do you think I was at the pavilion this morning?” he replied. “No one knows Nadders better than you.”

“If it weren’t for you, I’d probably have killed a few of them by now,” she said quietly, a cloud passing over her face for only a moment. “Anyway, are you going to come for dinner?”

“Yeah, I suppose, if you are.”

“Then come on!” She turned sharply and set off for the dining hall. “Last one there has to fight Tuffnut for the biggest piece of mutton!”

“Astrid!” he shouted, struggling out of his leather apron and hurrying after her. “I thought we would walk together!”

But she was already hauling open one of the huge doors and slipping inside, and he knew the hall would be too crowded and noisy to talk to her. She’d been slipping away like this more frequently, and he had to admit: he was getting worried. Was this her way of telling him that she wasn’t as interested anymore? Her way of breaking up gently? But no, that didn’t fit, either—Astrid was far too forthright. If she didn’t want to see him any more _like that_ she’d just straight out say it. 

He ended up squeezing between Snotlout and Fishlegs on their bench, across and two people down from Astrid. She flicked a fish bone at him and laughed before turning back to Ruffnut, who gestured so wildly she knocked a mug of mead into Tuffnut’s lap, who immediately turned and punched her. The ensuing brawl involved most of the table, and Hiccup ended up grabbing a roasted fish and leaving before the benches were overturned. 

Gobber was just hobbling up the steps as Hiccup started down them. “Hey now, laddie, where are _you_ off to?”

“Don’t know. Guess I’ll go find Toothless.”

“Ahh, I know that tone o’ voice, ‘specially when it’s paired with that long sort o’ face,” Gobber said sagely, reaching out and hooking Hiccup’s vest, lifting him off his feet and spinning him around. “Tell ol’ Gobber what the trouble is. Is it of the girl variety?”

“No offense, Gobber, but I don’t think you can help with this,” Hiccup said, brushing the huge arm off his shoulders.

“And what makes ya say that, eh?” Gobber demanded. “Just ‘cos I’m a bachelor by choice dun’t mean I didn’t break my fair share o’ hearts in me glory days!”

“Gobber, all you did in your glory days was lose limbs,” Hiccup said pointedly, and not without plenty of evidence. 

“Hey now, Hiccup. I bet you I know plenty that’d help ya with your current situation. See, I know my students, ‘specially the talented ones, and Astrid was one o’ the best I ever taught. If you hadn’t come along, she’d have gone down in our books as the world’s greatest dragon slayer. She’d’ve been Astrid the Fearsome or something o’ the sort. And now she’s just as good at trainin’ dragons as she would’ve been slayin’ ‘em, and that’s nothin’ to sneeze about, either. But there’s somethin’ you should know about that girl, if you don’t already, and given how your eyes barely miss a thing, I’m fair surprised you haven’t noticed it yet.”

“Oh?” Hiccup said against his better judgment. “And what’s that?”

“She’s a girl who likes to give chase, aye, and she’s got pride in her. She’s aggressive, she’s sharp, and she’s a born leader, that ‘un. Not at all like you, with your puny little arms and bunny-like temper—”

“Thanks, Gobber, for the reminder,” Hiccup said with a roll of his eyes.

“But I also think that sometimes she likes to just stand still and _be_ , you know? And I think you give ‘er that. The other lads, they want to show her their muscles, but she knows she can out-wrestle ‘em all. But you? You got a brain in that freckled head o’ yours, boy, and she ain’t quite used to dealin’ with your kind yet. She’s used to brawn and bluster, and I think she’s still figurin’ out how things’ll work with you. So maybe just give her some space and some time, and let her come to her own decisions, yeah?”

“You may have something there,” Hiccup said finally, after a thoughtful pause. “Thanks, Gobber.”

“Always happy to help, Hiccup,” he said with a deep nod. 

The doors burst open with a loud bang and cloud of smoke. Someone’s Terrible Terror had joined into the now dining hall-wide fray, and sparks were smoldering on the engraved woodwork.

“S’pose I’d best wade in and help here, eh?” Gobber said philosophically, pushing up his sleeve and clanking into the fray. 

Hiccup made his way through the village and up to his house on the hill. Toothless was stretched out on his back in the grass, legs stuck comically in the air and tongue lolling out of his open mouth, enjoying the warm sun on his softer belly scales. His ears twitched at the tell-tale squeak of Hiccup’s prosthetic leg and he lurched up with a growl of excitement, settling onto wiggling haunches.

“Hey, bud,” Hiccup said with a grin, holding up the fish he still had in hand. “It’s already been cooked, so I know it’s not exactly to your taste…”

That didn’t stop the dragon from snapping the tossed fish out of the air and smacking his lips contentedly. He bounded forward, nearly knocking the Viking down with his enthusiasm, before a steadying hand against his nose settled him.

“Let’s go for a walk, okay? Back to the valley?”

Toothless made his rumbling purr of approval and started off alongside him, shoulder pressed companionably against his side.

It had been a while since they’d come back here, but nothing had changed. Toothless crept up to the edge of the lake and began snapping at the fish lurking in the shallows, resurfacing every minute or so to shake the water from his snout and huff in a hasty breath. Hiccup sat with his back against a large rock and watched him for a while, not thinking of much of anything except how nice the summer sun felt on his face and how the breeze actually felt refreshing for once, rather than like a million icy knives cutting through to his spleen. 

Eventually he pulled out his sketchbook and worked out further details for his air bag device. But then his bit of charcoal began to sketch the outlines of her face on the next page, and before he knew it there were half a dozen Astrids staring out at him, some angry or tense, some laughing or relaxed. At the top he’d drawn her amongst clouds, arms outstretched above her head with delight.

“Is my hair _always_ in my eyes like that?”

He startled and looked up. She was lying across the rock, leaning on her elbows.

“Yeah, usually,” he said, a flush of embarrassment burning across his cheeks. “And you do this thing all the time, where you brush it away but it just falls back again.”

“Funny how everybody has little habits they don’t even notice,” she said thoughtfully. “You’re a really good artist, Hiccup. Have I mentioned that before?”

“No, but thanks,” he mumbled, closing his book awkwardly. 

“When my dad found out that I liked you, he was really confused,” she went on in a conversational tone. “He was all, ‘But what about that Snotlout? He’s a brawny boy. He’ll grow to be a substantial man. You’d make a fine pair. That Hiccup’s little more than a bean, all his good works for the village notwithstanding.’ And you know what I did? I laughed at him, because he just didn’t get it.”

“Get what?” Hiccup asked quietly.

“Snotlout’s a nice guy and all, but he’s _boring_. He’d never surprise me the way you do. I like it when things are crazy and unpredictable, and that’s one thing you’re really good at, Hiccup: making things exciting.”

“But it’s not like I do it on purpose or anything,” he said quickly. “I just sort of… stumble into things.”

“I’ll give ya that,” she agreed. “But you’ve got other things going for you, too.”

“I do?”

“You’ve got some awesome scars. Girls love a guy with scars.”

She was grinning, and he laughed at that.

“And I like the way you see the world,” she went on, in a more serious tone. “I think the way you see the world is the way I dream it. Everyone else walks around and they just see stones and grass and the ocean. But you see things that aren’t there yet. And then you hide away in Gobber’s old workshop and come out with some new magic, and you do it for _everyone_ , not just yourself. The things you do, Hiccup, make life better for all of us. And I think that’s just amazing.”

“You make me sound like some great person,” Hiccup said, looking down while his cheeks burned.

She slid off the rock down next to him, shoulder pressed to shoulder. “You are. And you’re just going to get greater every day. I can’t wait to see what you do tomorrow, and the day after that, and the year after that.”

She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into the kiss with all of her usual strength and enthusiasm, and he felt himself melt just a bit, as if he’d gotten caught between two Night Furies. Only this was far, far nicer. Her tongue pressed against his bottom lip, and he dimly realized that this was the longest, _realest_ kiss they’d ever had, and then he remembered that he had hands and it was stupid to just sit there with them lying in his lap when he could be touching her. His fingers slid up her arms, past her wrapped vambraces, and her skin was so soft beneath the pad of his thumb he felt dizzy; abruptly he realized that he hadn’t caught a decent breath in far too long. 

“You okay?” she murmured when he pulled away.

“You make me dizzy is all,” he said when he’d recaptured his breath.

“And how do you think you make me feel?” she replied, to his further surprise. “Remember that first flight?”

“Doubt I’ll forget it in a hurry.”

“That’s how I always feel around you, Hiccup,” she said, a glint in her eyes. “You gave me a taste of something new and beautiful and breathtaking—you made me see there was more to our world than what we’d always been taught. And you made me realize that the best things come in unexpected packages. You opened my eyes. And now I never want to shut them again.”

“You make me want to write poetry,” he said quickly, without pause, no time for the words to filter through his brain before they left his mouth. She laughed at that and the stunned look on his face and kissed him again before standing. She held out her hand, and he took it without a second thought. Toothless looked up from the water, alert and poised.

“C’mon, Hiccup Haddock Horrendous,” she said, fingers lacing with his. “Why don’t you take me on another ride?”


End file.
